The Fairport Companion

Performer: Fairport Convention
Distributor: Ryko Distribution

Notes: For a band that's seen seven or more incarnations, Fairport Convention has remained a near-mythological Godhead for the British folk scene. Castle Music's sprawling Fairport Companion, complete with a hand-drawn family tree foldout from legendary illustrator/journalist Pete Frame, manages to dutifully represent nearly all of the group's major offshoots. Well-known tracks from the Ian Campbell Folk Group, Steeleye Span, Shirley Collins, and Dave Swarbick are nestled snugly against lesser-known offerings from Trader Horne, Lal and Mike Waterson, Shelagh McDonald, and Harvey Andrews and Graham Cooper -- even the Sandy Denny tracks, Alex Campbell's "Been on the Road So Long" and then-boyfriend Jackson C. Frank's "Milk and Honey" are long overlooked gems. The Fairport Companion should be handed out to anybody looking to make sense of the collective's annual Cropredy Festival, as it features nearly everyone who would be likely to take the stage, but it should also be required listening for anybody with even the most remote interest in the origins of English folk-rock, as it sounds -- albeit pleasurably -- like a lecture from a visiting professor. ~ James Christopher Monger

The definitive British folk-rock band, Fairport Convention took the traditional music of England and injected it with electricity and rock energy, sparking a whole musical movement in the U.K. in the late 1960s and early '70s. The late-'60s incarnation of the band was bursting with talent, including singer Sandy Denny and guitarist Richard Thompson, both of whom went on to lauded solo careers. Even after Denny and Thompson's departures, though, Fairport never slowed down. Through numerous personnel changes, they soldiered on for decades with their singular brand of folk-rock, becoming the Grand Old Men of the genre.

Click Here for Shipping Options and Policies

Shipping or Dimension weight in pounds: 0.25